Tag Archives: swim

Post Eagleman 2023 Photo

Race Report: Eagleman 70.3 2023

Race Morning
Before I can go into how the day went, we must turn the clocks back 24 hours to Saturday morning. The day started out as ordinary until …. I went to grab shorts out of the suitcase. Yep, if you’re over 40 you can probably guess what happened next. One of the my worst back seizes in memory. My wife helped by giving me a back massage and also applying some Rock Tape, but even walking was not as easy as breathing. After some breakfast and bed stretching, we loaded the bikes onto the car and headed to the bike check-in. We had gotten parking that was pretty close to the expo/transition, so it was a short walk. At one of the closed side-streets I decided to test how pedaling would go and was pleasantly surprised cycling was possible. We dropped off the bikes, got dinner and prepped for Sunday.

So the alarm went off as programmed and the back was only marginally better. We got dressed, grabbed our bags & nutrition and headed to our pre-paid parking lot. Walking to transition was okay, probably not as fast as I normally stride, but relatively pain-free. It took a little bit to get down to the ground to lay out my towel, shoes (bike & run) and other stuff. And putting on the sleeveless wetsuit was not as easy as it should have been. I only had it waist-high when the announcer indicated that transition was closing.

Swim Leg
exiting the Choptank River at Ironman 70.3 EaglemanSo I made my way to the funnel of athletes with volunteers holding signs for expected swim times. I slowly advanced up to the 40 minute sign, pulled up my wetsuit so I could at least get the top secured, made sure to re-attach my timing chip, and then got my Fenix 5S ready to record. From what I remember, it had +60% battery remaining, so plenty to record this (so I thought). After the swim cannon fired for the supes to start their race, we slowly advanced forward to the Choptank River. When I go close the start arch, I heard Dave Ragsdale over the mic ask “And where is David Mioduszewski?” I happened to be on the right side of the corral near him, so I waved until he saw me. Not long after that I was at the human guardrail where everyone had to wait 5 seconds before descending the padded ramp into the water. The water had a slight chill to it throughout the whole swim, but it wasn’t the coldest I’ve been in. I kept pretty straight and close to the buoys as I went, and only 2-3 times did I have to deal with crowds, not including the turns. I did have to pause a few times to de-fog my goggles. The river was pretty murky and it tasted as such … I would recommend taping your mouth shut to prevent this as my throat was irritated afterwards. I got to the swim finish ramp, got out.

T1
Remember how I wrote that I made sure my watch was set up and it had plenty of battery? Walking up the ramp out of the river and heading to the area of wetsuit strippers I went to hit the lap button and noticed the screen was blank. “WTF?” After I got my wetsuit taken off (with a little assistance getting down and up) I walked to my bike attempting to see if it had just turned off somehow – no luck. I had set my main bag off to the side of transition so I tossed my wetsuit on top of it and sat down by my bike to clean my feet & put on my bike shoes, helmet, and glasses. Made my way to the Bike Start arch, swung my leg over my bike and started pedaling.

Bike Leg
biking Blackwater ReserveThe course is okay compared to some other races I’ve done. I can’t tell how fast or slow it is, as my watch didn’t survive the morning. But there weren’t any steep climbs, rolling hills or long descents. The course goes through some neighborhoods, along some roads and then winds through Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge before winding back to the race site. I passed some wheat fields, some more fields, some marsh land, more marsh land, fields, fields, fields. I did spot what looked to be a beaver’s apartment with a mound of tree branches & parts in the marshes. I kept myself as comfortable as I could on the bike; only towards the last few miles did I have to do a standing stretch will coasting. I did stop once for the port-o-potty at the aid station around mile 18. I think the constant pedaling helped to loosen the hips a bit to make getting off and back on the bike a bit easier. I pushed when I could, eased back when I needed to, and took advantage of a tail wind as provided. Overall the bike course was good, well marked and the aid stations seemed to be well run – although I didn’t notice any theming or decorations. After about 56 miles, the bike finish arch came into view which meant a dismount was coming up.

T2
I did have to lean the bike a bit more than normal to swing my right leg over it, but I was able to walk to my spot in transition okay. After racking my bike and getting my helmet, glasses and shoes off, I really felt the tightness standing there. It got the point where I doubted even heading out for the half marathon. But then I thought, “Just get out there.” I put on my socks and Endorphin Pro’s, grabbed my zip lock bag of nutrition, container of generic Motrin, & my race belt with the bib on it, and got out there.

Run Leg
finishing Eagleman 70.3 2023I started walking and that was okay, and kept that up until another racer came up to me whom was slowly jogging. He had a neat Zoot kit (that ended up not being available anymore), so I decided to see how jogging would go. We ended chatting for a few minutes until he had to take a rest walk; I was feeling fine so I kept it up until the first aid station almost a mile into the run. Before getting to that aid station I took off that fully dead Garmin and put in my back pocket with the nutrition bag and Motrin container. For the first loop of two I mostly jogged until each aid station, getting a cup of something (water, Gatorade, or Coke) and adding ice cubes to the 3 small pockets in my top. I only took the generic Motrins twice the first loop, so the remaining pills gave a little shaker noise in the container as I jogged. I didn’t push the pace to go what I had originally planned on running, so the 2hr half marathon was out of the question. Runners passed me, I passed walkers and slower joggers. Being two out-and-back loops I saw my wife a few times in passing (she had a better overall race than I and a PR bike split) so we got to keep tabs on each other. A couple of times my lower back would give a slight “spazz” whenever I think I leaned too much to the side or direction. Other than that, I was fine. The second loop probably went a little bit slower than the first loop (no watch nor can tell time by the sun’s angle) as the temps slowly went up and there was not much shade, but I still kept jogging as much as I could and adding ice to my pockets. There were definitely people from less humid states at the race as a few times I came upon people either hands on the knees or were being tended to by volunteers or medical staff. Eventually, I made it to the split in the run loop where instead of turning right for another loop, I got to turn left for the finish line. I did pick it up a bit here so I could pass a few runners and not have to “share” the finish arch photos. As luck would have it, I heard David Ragsdale call my name as a finisher and I gave him a wave. The race was over … for me, anyway.

Post-Race
Thus, the race was over and the finisher medal was well earned. If you put in the training and aware of what you are capable of, you can accomplish something that might seem improbable. Would I do that race again? Yeah, it was well run, had a lot of helpful volunteers and supplies, and is in a nice area.

finish line photo with flag

Race Report: Ironman Cozumel 2021

Race Morning
view from Blue Angel ResortWhat a difference nine years can make. Alarm went off as normal (5am), got dressed as normal, ate a little bread & peanut butter, drank some Monster, and wondered how long the rain was going to last. It was just a light sprinkling but knew it would probably last a while. When we went downstairs, the rain had lessened a bit, so Jess got her rented scooter started – or tried to. For some reason (possibly due to the excessive rain) it wouldn’t turn over. No big deal – we walked the 1/2 mile to one of the host hotels where I hopped on (standing room only left) a big athlete’s only bus and the driver did a half dozen point u-turn to head over to T1 at Chankanaab Park. Got to T1 and it was still not raining, but as transition was in a park, portions were quite muddy, even with the blue carpeting. Handed off my special needs bags (mini cans of Cokes in both only) and headed to my bike. Put my water bottle in the cage on the handle bar holder and two Infinit bottles in their cages (only 1 pre-filled), and then headed off. I did check that the tires were still well filled, and decided it was not needed to add air. The line for the second shuttle to the swim start moved quite well with a line of buses waiting to take us to Marina Fonatur and the swim start. I got there, and after making my way to the find the morning clothes trucks (walking through more mud and water), I then had to take off my Gasparilla jacket and footwear to add to the bag before handing it off and make my way to the starting corals.

SWIM
local wildlife at hotelI popped into the 1:10 to 1:20 coral as I wasn’t sure how my shoulder would hold up (small spill enroute to bike drop off the day before) or how the current was going. I sat down on one of the “socially distanced” stickers to save on fatigue, while waiting in the now-drizzle which lead to the naming of the pro men and pro women – they got swim warmup, we did not. When the age group rolling start began, it was still drizzling; it interestingly stopped as soon as we rounded the turn and faced the Swim Start arch. Just before the timing mat and pier, there were counters that held racers for 3 seconds each to space out everyone. Walked to the pier, started my Garmin, crossed the mat and entered the water, feet first. Probably the clearest ocean water ever – there were points where the depth looked to be over 10ft but the scuba divers were still clear. I did see fish a few times, just nothing worth reporting (saw some green fish, but no rays, turtles or Arthur Curry). The spacing out of the participants made for a less congested swim start which I liked, just catching up to groups of slower ones, which is good for morale. It didn’t feel as thought the current changed at any point during the long swim, but there definitely were some changes in temps as there were some cold “pools” felt along the way. Glad I went with the metallic titanium goggles as sighting and buoy checking was some what in the direction of the sun and the goggles did not hinder my vision; I am more of a right-side breather, but can do both sides if need be. I knew the end was near as the two thatched huts at the end of piers signified that Chankanaab was approaching. There was a scuba diver laying at the ocean floor just next to the second of two huts, there was no giant red buoy to signify the turn. But seeing volunteers on SUP boards pointing to their right made it quite obvious where to go. Made the turn and the exit stairs came up soon enough, and, even though they were a bit slick, I carefully stepped up them to the pier, hit “lap” on my watch and made my way along the carpeted walkway through the small showers (I did pass my head underneath) and went to find my bike.
Props to: Aqua Sphere Metallic Titanium Goggles, Coach Bill Troy’s M&W pool sessions

T1
Once I found my bike (thankfully didn’t have to do much hunting) I was glad that the area wasn’t too muddy. I opened the blue bike bag to get out my socks, bike shoes, FLT arm sleeves, helmet, glasses and stroopwaffles. Everything got put on, the bike was grabbed and I made my way out of Chankanaab Park to find the bike exit. I crossed the timing mat, hit “lap” again, hopped on my bike and began the long journey of Leg 2 of Ironman Cozumel.

BIKE
bike portion race photoLooking back, I was really glad that I did a few century rides leading up to this and that the course was three loops. I got about 12 miles before needing to stop for a #1 – a quick stop and then back on to continued lap #1. All three laps were, of course, more or less the same – in terms of extras, not layout. During all three laps I saw several people dealing with flats, puddles, porto-potty breaks, showers, a wipeout (only 1), puddles, some stray dogs, puddles, serene waves on one side with loud crowds on the other, puddles, minor inclines and declines, some lightning during the 3rd loop, and (guess what) puddles. Some of the puddles were shallow and small, most were a few inches deep, but the doozy was on my third loop: my feet submerged on each downstroke and it lasted a few minutes to get through. The special needs stop that I used at the mid-point was less than stellar: it seemed as though a few dozen people all decided to to stop around the same time, as there was almost no place to prop up my bike (I used a pedal to lean it against a curb) and the direction given in the guide and briefing was not present in reality. I got my bag, drank one of the mini Cokes, placed the second in my bento box and left the crowds – so many people just sitting around, chatting like it was feista. It was great to be able to stay to the right when the third loop ended and I could make my way to the parking garage of the Mega. The showers had thankfully abated after the last lightning strike/storm combo mid-way through the loop. Rolled up to the entrance, hopped off, hit “lap” again, and hopped over a median (carefully so as not to slip and fall) and made my way to my red run bag to hang up my bike.
Props to: Jim’s Bicycles, Tune Cycle & Bicycle Generation for supplies, service and advice, Infinit and Gu Stroopwaffle, TriBike Transport

T2
I could have done without the puddles in the garage, but dealt with it as puddles seemed par for the day. I was quite glad to be able to take off the soaking wet bike shoes and socks for dryer run socks and sneakers. I also decided to change out of my tri top for the American tank top and figured out a way of wrapping the Augusta towel around myself to swap the tri shorts for running shorts. I placed my gels in the pockets of my run shorts, strapped the race belt, grabbed my cap and light, and headed out for the long, last jog.

RUN
race photo from lap 1 of marathonMuch like the bike, I was glad it was three loops. It made the out-and-backs easier to manage as 6 total segments of 4.3 miles with a few aid stations between the turn-arounds. There were also fewer puddles on the run course versus the bike course, although there was a storm drain cover that was overflowing that everyone went around the entire time I was out there. One thing this race did well on the run was have large coolers that they kept filled with ice and water to chill the drinks (important later). The first loop I grabbed Gatorade bottles (chilled), but soon the flavor was too much to stomach after that. I was privy to be able to get one water “pouch” of e-Pure before subsequent aid stations were completely out of them. It was on the return trip of the second that I saw another racer filling a bottle in one of the tubs – that gave me the idea of grabbing a Gatorade from one table, completely emptying it out, only to refill it will with water and ice. During my third loop aid stations started handing out small cups with water, and had run out of Pepsi. For the first two loops I jogged until I hit an aid station – the out portion of the third loop my legs (knees, hips) needed a few extra breaks. One or two times I jogged through the station, but only when I had a bottle in hand and had already consumed a Liquid Energy. I had a gel around mile 22 and dropped the bottle in a garbage a mile or two later. Now the out-and-back can be broken into two parts: the energetic, crowd-supported area near the T2/finish that was about a mile; the quiet, sparse area with a few hotels and sporadic music and crowds. After making that last turn-around, I knew I would have the crowds and music to add fuel. I was looking forward to the drum line that was present the first two loops – they were gone by the return of my 3rd – that was a bummer. In looking at my Garmin stats for the marathon, I actually negative split the last 7 miles (from a 15 pace to sub-10). Much like the bike, it was great to be able to completely veer right for the run finish, as the first loop I didn’t notice the chalk on the ground that indicated lap versus finish and almost grabbed a flag. I pointed to the US flag a volunteer was holding, grabbed it and headed for the finisher chute. Needless to say, the only thing that could have made the finish better (besides the announcer stumbling my last name) was the man-made “hill” I had to climb to cross the finish line – it was cruel and unusual punishment after 13-1/2 hours. It was quite patriotic to wield the American flag across the finish line of a race in another country. During my first two loops I had thought to do the Tony Stark “I am Ironman” snap either at the finish (but the hill killed that) or at the official finish photo, but I didn’t spot that area. Oh, well.
Props to: Hoka Rincon, WoB Coconut Creek Run Club & Runner’s Depot Coral Springs Run Club, Gu Liquid Energy

OVERALL
finish line photo with flagThrough all of the issues, both race and otherwise, Cozumel does a good Ironman. Their airport (American Airlines in particular) was grossly understaffed for our leaving, the aid stations hadn’t accounted for the large increase of participants (2,700+ versus their normal 2k), the island’s drainage couldn’t handle the rain, the finisher shirt is cotton, the medal has stickers, and the expo did not have any official gear that I was interested in (did I miss Cozumel bike bottles?) like triathlon tops or shorts (I only saw bike gear). Speaking of the bike portion: I did see race officials each loop and I even saw participants waiting in the penalty tents. That being said, during the first 2 loops I was passed by a few groups as well as people riding side-by-side, chatting it up. The athlete guide, athlete briefing and athlete bib all warned and pledged against drafting. Now, since the bike course was 3 loops, it can be difficult for 1-2 officials to catch everything. Thus, it is on the individual to take it upon themself to either play by the rules, or use assistance with a possibility of getting called out, either by officials or other racers. But the restaurants have great food, shop keepers are friendly and accommodating (got free shots on Monday), volunteers were helpful, and the race went well for me (duh – 2-1/2 hr pr). Definitely one worth recommending for first timers and those looking to pr or get a slot for something bigger.
Props to: my wife, Cozumel, my wife, my training plan (I wrote), my wife, Dr Troy Weidlich & Calvin Hicks for fixing us on a regular basis, Blue Angel Resort for a relaxing stay and good bar/restaurant,and to Mother Nature for not killing me or my mood.

 

Race Report: Hutchinson Island Half Iron

First off, every race is a learning experience. No matter how many you do, no matter how long you have been racing, every race is going to be different. Even if you do the same race & venue, you physically are different, the weather could be different, dozens of factors go into a race. But when you do a race for a first time, you add more uncertainty. We had the course maps, heard from other people who had done the race previously, had even drove most of the run and bike course the day before. So we knew that the course was unshaded. But wow, when the forecast calls for cloudy skies all day and you get none of that all day, it can be rough.

Swim was a double mass start: one for the long peeps and then a later one for the short peeps (half iron or short course). We actually had to wait for the sun to rise, sometime after 7am so that the lifeguards could get the buoys placed. The ocean was not completely flat, but the waves did not go out far. We had to swim in a kind of T pattern: straight out, left turn, 180° to head south a long while until we hit the other turnaround buoy and then the other left turn buoy to take us back to the beach. But wait, I forgot the fun before and at the start: Now while the waves were only close to shore, they were pretty intense. Just standing in knee deep, my ankles were getting pounded by the shells picked up from the waves going both in & out. I should have taken that into account when the race finally started, as before I got to that first turn buoy I went to take a breath and was figuratively punched in the face by one of those strong waves. It took a good minute to recover (and several more to clear my lungs) and get my bearings, even a fellow member of Boca Raton Tri (Stefano) stopped next me and asked if I was okay. Once I got over that it was just a matter of getting to the next buoy. That proved uhhh, let’s say fun, as the current (going south) was enough to keep pushing my direction towards the shore. I think I must have done at least 1.5 miles instead of the posted 1.1 miles. And it turns out I kept some the ocean with me the rest of the day.

The bike, oh the bike. Started out okay, heading north for about 12 miles along good ol’ A1A – almost 100% flat, except for the few bridges that went over some canals. There was water bottle station at about mile 10 – remember that. The forecast was for calm to less than 5mph out of the NE for most of the morning, but it turned out to be more of a straight crosswind – it felt like a headwind going both north and then south, but a breeze going west. Unfortunately after going through the roundabout (mile 24) and turning west it lead straight to the NE Causeway bridge. And oh what a bridge it was! I think one of Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships could have fit under it, but that might be an overstatement (doubt it). Up and over the bridge and right at the bottom of the west side we had to do a right side 180° to go under the bridge and then go right back up the bridge on the other side. It was under the bridge at about mile 26 that the other water bottle station was located (thankfully), so I did a quick stop to fill my water bottle. So if you are following the math, you probably figured out that I was only halfway through the 56 mile bike when I got back to the roundabout. That meant another trip up and down A1A and the crosswinds (a bit stronger this time), and another trip with the bridge. It was almost like an unshaded Sugarloaf Mountain. The first bottle station I mentioned earlier (remember that?), was empty: no bottles, just a pair of guys in volunteer shirts sitting. Luckily the water station under the bridge still had bottles, albeit no longer chilled. I forget at what point I realized that I do not like biking. But thankfully the bike was over.

Run – wait, let’s not call it that. Let’s call it “survive 13+ miles in an almost completely unshaded foot course.” Because that was basically what it this last leg of the triathlon was. As I started out I wondered if it was smart idea: a little nausea, the high heat & humidity, and knowing that there was barely any shade. I made it to the aid station at mile 1 and then the aid station at mile 2. There I downed a bunch of ice water, a cup of coke and dumped several ice water all over.  That helped and I felt the effects within 5 minutes. Go a few miles, left turn down a side street a bit, come back to the main street but keep going, go under the A1A bridge (& finally find a bathroom), turn around, go up & over the A1A bridge, do a quick in & out of park only to go back over the bridge, do a 180° back under the bridge to thankfully start heading back to transition, only to do the out-and-back from earlier, and then finally go straight to transition. Confused? Yeah, so was I. There were mile markers, but I guess they could only afford a small handful – one for the bike course (a misplaced 20 mile sign at mile 18.5) and four for the run: miles 1, 5, 8 (on the wrong side of the road facing the wrong direction), and 12. Thankfully there were some animals that littered the courses: saw a raccoon scampering around some shrubs the first loop of the bike, lots of birds all around, some dolphins at the run bridge, and enough crabs (both dead & alive) to stock a seafood restaurant for a week. Also thankful that around mile 7 I held up a bit and stuck with another fellow Boca Tri member, Kyle and we kept ourselves sane for the rest of the race. Always easier to keep moving with someone.

So what did I learn? Never do a half or full iron distance race between March & October in the state of Florida, or southeast US – the heat (plus humidity) can be a killer. What’s next? The relay at GFT with my wife and we are sooooo glad we downgraded from the individual ultra distances. Will I do another solo half iron or longer? Probably not

Race Report: Egg Hunt Sprint Triathlon 2015

First multi-sport race of the 2015 season, first race at C.B. Smith park. Day started out early and was going good until we got the park – cars were crawling to get in. Turns out the lines to get in merged into one lane, which then split into three paying lanes. Tradewinds only counts the number of people entering but C.B Smith insisted on collecting entrance fees, which added 15 minutes to parking. Luckily we got in the park line by 6am so w had time when we eventually parked and then hunted for transition – just follow the other bikes.

Transition, just like at Tradewinds, is situated in a parking lot and the racks were well spaced. But I think the numbering was out of order, or at least they weren’t consistant with the alternating from side to side. Got transition set up: bike, bike shoes, glasses, helmet [check], run shoes and race belt [check], goggles and swim cap [check]. A quick double check and then heading to the lake – where is the lake? Walked out of transition the bike-out end and then walked around to the other end where the lake is. It took reading the shore flags to figure out where the swim start and exit were – “if those say ‘start’ then the other pair must be the exit.” Water was a comfortable temperature and somewhat clear (for a lake), and the sun was creeping up, so I was glad I had semi-tinted swim goggles. When the race started (and I always seem to be in the first wave of these sprints), we got into the lake and told to spread out … why did no one spread out? I found myself in the middle of square of guys in knee deep water. “GO!” I think I spent the first 50 meters wading and doggy paddling until there was room enough to actually swim. Then another 50 meters or so until I could get around the slower guys in front of me. Before I had even gotten to the first turn bouy, I was almost completely by myself – all of the speed demons were pulling far ahead and the rest were behind me. After the first left turn the second leg was almost all in the sun – it was very difficult to spot the bouys. I actually stopped for a second or two to get my bearings. Made the second turn and got into a rythym heading to the swim exit. Crawled out and jogged into transition – which was not a direct shot.

Clipped the helmet on, strapped the shoes on, shaded the eyes with glasses and grabbed the bike. The mount line was pretty close to transition (10-15 feet) so it wasn’t long until I was weaving around the inner loop of the course. The bike course is not as technical as Tradewinds, but it is no walk in the park. There are some long and short curves and about 6 right turns per loop. Just like with the swim, there is one leg going directly into the sun. Some of the cones to separate the bikes from the cars seemed a bit too inside – I was heading east (into the sun) when I heard a crash behind me. I glanced off to my left and just caught a guy on a bike go down. For a half a second I considered stopping – I heard later that the guy bounced back up. Second lap on the bike was pretty much the same, but without the crasher and more cyclists on the course. So many cruisers and hybrids, oh so many beginners. There were many instances where I had to go a bit outside to get by the newbies. They did provide some good slingshots.

Back in transition it was a quick one set of shoes off, another set on and making sure the helmet was off and that I had grabbed the race belt before trotting out. The run course is a nice, shaded 2-loop 90% paved trail. There are 1-2 bridges that, if wet or raining, could be a concern. It also is not 100% flat, but the inclines are either long and slow or steep and short. Mile markers would have been helpful as I didn’t use a gps, but the loops went around the lake so the transition/finish was pretty much visible the whole time. It took about a mile or so to get comfortable, but I definitely feel like my second loop was faster then the first. And the fact that I did a 26 minute 5k is good. Especially siince I had just done a 5k on Thursday in Ft Lauderdale of 24 minutes (and the Corporate Run was super crowded).

Final words: pleased with my 1:10 sprint, pleased with my 9th place in my age group, not so pleased with the early morning park entrance, defintely not pleased with the 45 min delay in duathlon awards that got contested and the fact the triathlon awards weren’t ready right after, but still pleased with the overall course. Due to the length of the award ceremony and amount of first timers that got podium, a lot of other people also think so, too.

What I Have Learned About Triathlon

With only a few weeks left before Ironman Texas, I decided to give a breakdown of the three disciplines (swim, bike, and run) and what I have learned about each of them. I am in no way an expert but I like to think that I have probably experienced enough in training for Texas and the other races before, and also listened to friends’ experiences with the sport to be able to put down on “paper” what about each leg is easy and difficult.

Swim:

Probably the easiest of the three legs of the race to pick up, given the fact that a majority of kids are taken to swim classes. But even better: it is also the cheapest of the three sports since all you need are swim trunks & goggles = you’re good to go! And freestyle, the easiest of the swim strokes, is also the most recommended in triathlon. And what beginners should know is that swim portion is also the shortest compared to the bike and run legs. But the best part: it is water! There is the resistance of the water itself, but that is it (unless you wear paddles) so there is a less chance of developing joint pain, broken leg, shin splints, brain injury, etc.

What makes it difficult: I am used to breathing on the bike and run, but breathing in a pool/lake/ocean is a different ballpark. I can go for long hours on the bike or on my feet without any breathing issues (note: except running in high humidity), but I am still trying to figure out how much/little air to take in for long swims. So let’s say that you mastered that. With regards to training locations, you are limited to the ocean (dependent on weather, jelly fish, algae, etc, if you even live near one) and/or pools (probably this). Depending on your area, some indoor pools are not long and usually require a membership (gym) and outdoor pools can get crowded (not good for lotta-lap-workouts). If you have a rainy season (like South Florida), lightning can play havoc on schedules.

BEGINNER’S TIP: With sprint triathlons, the swim is not long (around 400meters) so not much training is required to make in through the distance. Simply go to your local pool to get some laps in to build distance, with a couple hard/fast laps to help out. At the race, be sure you start in the back of wave or veer to the sides, as the center can be, well, let’s say, rough for those not used to tri swims.

Bike:

The one part of the triathlon that you can sort of take brief physical breaks and still be moving forward. Yes, you can sort of glide through the water, but only for a second or two; and forget about running (feet don’t move, you don’t move). If it any time during a ride, forward momentum will carry you along for some time; if you are lucky and get a downhill timed right, you might not have to peddle for a good while. Of course, a nice downhill meant that you probably had to get up it. But with the multitude of bicycling training videos and group rides being held, it is possible to develop into a quality cyclist within a few short months.

Of the three disciplines, this can get to be the most expensive. It is recommended that when you are first entering the sport to go “affordable” for your first bike: WalMart, Craigslist, garage sale, or even someone within the sport that has one lying around or wants to sell. Then, when you realize how much fun the sport is and that competitive juice starts building up, you will want to upgrade to a more speedier bike. And once that starts: lighter wheels, better gears, clip pedals, bike/triathlon shoes, bottle cages, bike sensors, aero helmet, bike clothes, bike trainer (don’t skimp on this), and probably more stuff that I can’t remember.

BEGINNER’S TIP: Go affordable, but if you come across a deal, jump on it. I got my road bike on consignment at a local bike shop. Still have it, too. Unless you truly care about time, fancy helmets and aerodynamic products will only shave minutes off of Ironman-distance events, not sprints.

Run:

The one discipline that can be trained for almost anywhere, at any time, in any weather (less lightning). You also do not need any special equipment, which is good for beginners. Basically any type of athletic shoes are okay, but, of course, running shoes are preferred, and better for you in the long run. And if you have the right running shoes and you train with the correct form, you can get places. One can wake up in the morning, go out for a jog (through in some intervals), take a shower and pick up some coffee on the way to work. When I started running, it was the end of summer, beginning of fall, so I did not have to deal with extreme heat/humidity. This lead to me being able to build up my distance fairly quick: from not being able to finish two miles in Sept 09 to a 2:15 half marathon Nov 09. The other benefit of the run leg over the other two legs: you can run with the other participants. Drafting in cycling not legal (note: there are draft legal races, but not many) and while it is legal to draft in swimming, it is difficult to talk and swim at the same time. And since wearing headphones/mp3 players in triathlon is illegal, running with someone can help.

That being said, running is also the most impactful on the body, from the feet (duh) all of the way up the legs, hips, and even back (unless you don’t have a spine, then what are you doing on this planet?). Even getting the best quality shoes can’t prevent feet pains, especially after lonnng runs. Unless running is all that you train, your feet might hate you. There are several running forms (chi, posed) and ways to prevent injury, but: everybody is different, every body is different.

BEGINNER’S NOTE: Go to a runner’s store and spend some time there. You will want to have a comfortable pair of shoes. Start out by just seeing how far you can go, even if you have to break it into walk/run. And that is perfectly fine in any race!